What Will Become Of Woodsy Now? -- 9-19-96

Date: Thu, 19 Sep 1996 19:26:53
Subject: Woodsy on his way to Monash

Al here... not Woodsy.

I'm on my way to the U.S. with Aussie, destined for
maryann_preston@glenridge.clayton.k12.mo.us

I left Woodsy with Greg Butler who will ensure his safe arrival at
andrew.wilson@monashps.act.edu.au

This has been a wonderful adventure. I've taken about 4 rolls of film of Woodsy and Aussie on their travels around Canberra, Sydney, Brisbane, Adelaide and Melbourne. They have been co-presenters at four major educational seminars I conducted in those cities, as well as co-keynote presenters at a conference in Melbourne. They've been interviewed by reporters and Woodsy was interviewed on Australia's ABC national radio (I have his picture). We've seen some of the neat fauna and flora here, but there are still many things that Woodsy is hoping to see. I have by no means stolen any of Andrew's thunder: Australia is such a diverse and interesting place, with really neat people, that Woodsy should have plenty to write home about.

The biggest problem I've had is finding time to write up all of the adventures, since this has been a working holiday for me.

Here are my plans for the first 3 weeks of Woodsy's adventures (which will, I trust, be simply the tiniest tip of the iceberg in terms of their adventures and stories that your students will exchange with one another.)

Over the next week or so, I'll write up the remainder of Woodsy's adventures and send them via email as I have been. For Andrew Wilson's year 2-3 students, this may seem somewhat anticlimactic, since they'll be receiving these stories after Woodsy arrives. I apologize for that... perhaps we can chalk it up to the fact that Woodsy wanted Mr. Rogers to correct his poor spelling before they were sent, and Mr. Rogers has been terribly busy but is correcting and sending as soon as he can.

I will be creating a binder for each class which will include all (or at least the best) of the photographs that accompany the stories I'm writing. I'll get those binders to both of you as soon as I can. I expect those will take at least 3-4 weeks to complete.

I also intend to create a Woodsy home page on the Global SchoolNet web site where others will be able to see and share Woodsy's adventures. This will point to the Aussie Schoolhouse/OzTeachernet Travel Buddies site so that others can inaugurate their own Travel Buddy exchange. I'll let you know when that's ready.

In the meantime, I would guess that you'll both receive your Travel Buddies at approximately the same time, so you'll be able to launch into the wonderful writing adventures that await you.

If you haven't already done so, Maryann and Andrew, I urge you to exchange email. Let me know if you have any trouble. You also should exchange school calendar dates. U.S. schools are just starting a new school year, and will be in session with the same group of students through next June (with some time off for holidays). Australian schools are approaching their summer holidays, which begin just prior to Christmas and go until the end of January. Then a new school year starts with a new crop of students. Thus, you'll have to prepare your students for a change midway through your school years.

I have had the chance to talk to a number of teachers involved in their own travel buddy program, and they have all been enthusiastic regarding their value as a wonderful literacy tool. As a 12-year veteran myself of on-line experiences, I can vouch for the fact that it has everything required of a project to yield wonderful results... if you nurture it with your youngsters.

One final request: I think it would be WONDERFUL if you would permit your student exchanges to become part of Woodsy's home page. In order to accomplish this, you'll need to do these things:

1. Make sure I receive a copy of every message your travel buddies send to one another... or journals your students exchange.

2. Make sure that the student and parent have both consented to have their journal or story published on-line. I will publish ONLY first names, and you can request that I use a pseudonym if you wish.

3. If there are any relevant photos or artifacts you're sending, I would appreciate either a copy that I can digitize, the original that I can digitize and then send on, or a digitized copy that you've been able to make yourself. I'll then post those pictures with the writing.

4. If you include photos of children, be sure that the parents have given permission to publish their children's photos on-line. I would appreciate a line from you stating that I can post on-line the photos that you send.

If you help out here, your students will not only be sharing their adventures with another class, but they'll also be sharing with the world an exciting and valuable learning tool with other children all over the world.

Of course, your participation in this is voluntary. Talk it over among yourselves. I've got enough on Woodsy right now to make a credible Web site. But, it would add incredible interest over the next few months if we could add to it as your students write.

If you agree to work with me on this, I'd like to get a picture of Maryann that we can put up.. I have a good photo of Andrew that I took (and a couple of lousy ones, too.) With your permission, Andrew, I'll include that on Woodsy's site. I have some photos of the students that you'll see, but I won't publish any of those until you've had a chance to see them and let me know if we can publish them online.

So, that's it for now. I'm re-entering an incredible catch-up time, but I'll be working on Woodsy's reports whenever I can. I expect to write at least 3-5 more reports covering vocabulary and pronunciation differences Woodsy noticed, some of the interesting places he visited (including the farm where the movie Babe was filmed), and a few interesting animals. I'll try and to them often enough for you to maintain interest in your students.

Bye for now,

Al